Iran raps political renewal of mandate for UN special rapporteur

March 24, 2017

8 Less than a minute

The United Nations Human Rights Council extended the mandate of the special rapporteur on Iran for the seventh consecutive year despite the lack of endorsement by the majority of member states and through mere reliance on the vote of a “certain political bloc” and its few allies in the region who are clearly violators of human rights at regional and international levels, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi said on Friday.

The Human Rights Council on Friday decided to extend the mandate of the special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran for a further period of one year in a resolution on the situation of human rights in Iran, adopted by a vote of 22 in favor, 12 against and 13 abstentions.

Qassemi said such a “confrontational policy and destructive and failed approach” is pursued through the “exertion of pressure on other countries to support these selective and spiteful resolutions by taking advantage of various political and economic levers” and will regrettably undermine the credibility of the UN human rights mechanisms.

It would also discredit countries that seek to tarnish the image of independent countries, including Iran, which refuses to follow the neocolonialist policies of certain Western states, he added.

Such countries also want to cover up their human rights violations, crimes against humanity and brutal killings in the region and across the world, he emphasized.